KIDNAPPED
by Kim Dreamcatcher
Summary: 3RD IN SERIES: Dr. Wily has his robots kidnap Miranda as bait to capture MegaGirl, oblivious to the fact that he already did.


KIDNAPPED  
  
"All right, Rush. Flip over and turn into a jackhammer," MegaMan instructed.  
  
"Okay!" Rush barked as he did a backwards flip and converted into a jackhammer for a few seconds before changing back to his original mode.  
  
"Good boy! Roll, give another biscuit!" MegaMan told his sister, who was standing next to him with a box of battery biscuits.  
  
"One battery biscuit, coming up!" Roll announced as she removed a battery biscuit from the box and tossed it to Rush, who caught it in his mouth and ate it in one bite.  
  
"I don't think there's anything else we can teach Rush, Mega," Roll confessed. Just then, Rush snatched the box of battery biscuits from Roll's hands and dumped the remaining biscuits into his mouth with his paws.  
  
"Rush, no! Bad dog!" Roll scolded loudly.  
  
"Well, we could always work on his manners," MegaMan remarked with a quick laugh.  
  
Just then, MegaMan and Roll heard the front doors sliding open. They turned around and saw Miranda standing there in her school uniform.  
  
"Hey, guys," Miranda greeted as she entered Dr. Light's lab.  
  
"Hey, Miranda. What are you doing here?" MegaMan asked curiously.  
  
"Dr. Light called and said he wanted to speak with me in person," Miranda explained. "All I know is that it has something to do with my new alter ego, MegaGirl."  
  
"Speaking of MegaGirl, what about that ruby that allows you to transform into her? What happened to it?" Roll asked curiously.  
  
"I just attached the gem to my locket," Miranda revealed as she showed MegaMan and Roll her locket, which now had the ruby fused to the front of it. "That way, I have easy access to it in case of an emergency." Just then, Dr. Light walked into the lab.  
  
"Dr. Light, you wanted to speak with me about something?" Miranda asked.  
  
"Yes, Miranda. Since you'll be helping MegaMan fight Dr. Wily and his robots, I've prepared something for you," Dr. Light explained as he approached a small storage cabinet and opened it. Inside was a large sky blue robotic bird that was at least double the size of an eagle, with a small crown of bright blue metal feathers on top of her head and wings that were half sky blue, half bright blue.  
  
"Oh, wow!" Miranda gasped out loud.  
  
"This is Misty. She will be your avian companion and mode of transportation, as Rush is to MegaMan," Dr. Light continued as he removed a small black remote control from inside his lab coat and pressed a red button.  
  
Instantly, the robotic bird opened her eyes and looked around the room. When her brown eyes fell on Miranda, Misty let out a happy chirp as she spread out her blue sheet metal wings and flew over to her new owner, landing on her left shoulder.  
  
"She's beautiful, Dr. Light," Miranda confessed. "All right, Misty. Let's see what you can do."  
  
Misty let out a soft whistle as she flew off of Miranda's shoulder, spread out her wings as flat as she could, lowered her head, and tucked her legs inside of her body, converting into a jet engine powered glider. She then converted into a hang glider, followed by a long bobsled and a jet- propelled surfboard.  
  
"That's incredible, Dr. Light," Miranda confessed as Misty converted back into her original bird mode.  
  
"All you have to do is feed her these battery pellets for energy, Miranda," Dr. Light explained as he handed Miranda a box filled with tiny battery pellets the size of bird seed. "No problem. Thanks, Dr. Light," Miranda confessed as Misty landed back on her left shoulder...  
  
"Now that MegaMan has a new partner, it would make it even more difficult to defeat that titanium troublemaker," Dr. Wily muttered thoughtfully as he studied the footage of the battle that occurred four days ago in his mountain hideaway, along with ProtoMan, DarkMan, GutsMan, and CutMan.  
  
"I can't believe we got beat by a girl bot!" GutsMan complained loudly as he watched the clip of MegaGirl attacking him with CutMan's weapon.  
  
"I must say that this MegaGirl is quite impressive. With a plasma blaster undt an internal weapons converter, she must have been created by Dr. Light. But, why haven't I heard of this MegaGirl before?" Dr. Wily mused thoughtfully as he played with his moustache.  
  
"Maybe Dr. Light didn't even create her," ProtoMan muttered out loud.  
  
"What do you mean, ProtoMan?" Dr. Wily asked curiously.  
  
"Think about it, Doc. From what I saw, MegaGirl's very different from MegaMan. Besides the obvious, she was able to recharge MegaMan by just touching him, she never ran out of juice, and my Mega Bro didn't even know who she was!"  
  
"Perhaps you're right, Proto, my boy. But if Dr. Light didn't create MegaGirl, then who did?" Dr. Wily asked.  
  
"That bot looks kinda familiar," GutsMan muttered out loud.  
  
"No kidding, GutsMan! We just fought her four days ago!" ProtoMan remarked.  
  
"No, I mean I've seen her somewhere before. I can feel it in my circuits," GutsMan explained.  
  
"Come to think of it, you're right, GutsMan," CutMan agreed. "MegaGirl kinda looks like that girl that was at that house where we got the formula!"  
  
"Those two actually made a good point...for once!" ProtoMan reluctantly admitted. "She sort of looks like Dr. Stoutenburg's granddaughter, so maybe Dr. Stoutenburg made MegaGirl before he passed away."  
  
"Hmm...you could be onto something, ProtoMan," Dr. Wily muttered thoughtfully. "If that is the case, then if something were to happen to a member of Dr. Stoutenburg's family, like his granddaughter, for example, MegaGirl would have to come to the rescue!"  
  
"I'm getting the feeling that that evil mind of yours is hatching up another hair-brained scheme!" ProtoMan remarked. "Care to fill us in, Doc?"  
  
"It's very simple, really. We're going to trap MegaGirl so I can reprogram her to destroy MegaMan!" Dr. Wily revealed with a sinister cackle as he gleefully rubbed his hands together. "That annoying kid brother of yours will never suspect a thing, ProtoMan."  
  
"Sounds good to me!" ProtoMan admitted smugly.  
  
"Now, listen closely, all of you. Here's what I want you to do," Dr. Wily started to explain to his four robots...  
  
"Here you go, Misty," Miranda replied as she poured some of the battery pellets into a dish and placed it on the kitchen counter next to her new robotic pet. Miranda's hair was now tied up in a braid and she was now wearing black sneakers, a red tank top, blue jeans, and a red bandana tied around her head. Misty chirped happily as she helped herself to the tiny pellets.  
  
"I'll just leave the window open for you in case you want to join me outside," Miranda explained as she opened the small kitchen window, which led into the backyard. She entered the backyard and headed for a large patch of dirt, which she was making into a small garden. Miranda picked up a small spade, dug a small hole in the dirt, and dropped a few seeds in the hole.  
  
As she shoved the dirt back in the hole and packed it down with the back of her spade, Miranda had a strange feeling that someone was watching her. She looked over her shoulder, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "It's probably nothing," Miranda assured herself as she went back to her garden work.  
  
After a few minutes of complete silence have passed by, Miranda suddenly heard a twig snap. She turned around and gasped loudly when she saw ProtoMan, GutsMan, CutMan, and DarkMan. "Not you guys again!" Miranda exclaimed loudly as she quickly stood up.  
  
"Way to be subtle, GutsMan!" ProtoMan retorted under his breath. He looked up and noticed that Miranda was making a run back to the house. "Stop her!" ProtoMan shouted to DarkMan.  
  
"I'll use my electromagnetic net," DarkMan announced as he threw a ball of black electromagnetic energy at the retreating girl. Miranda tried to outrun DarkMan's attack, but unfortunately, the electromagnetic net completely enveloped her.  
  
"Hey! Let me go!" Miranda shouted as she squirmed around in the net.  
  
"There's no use struggling, Miranda. You're all ours," ProtoMan remarked as he picked up the net with Miranda tangled in it.  
  
"What do you want with me? I already gave you my grandpa's formula!" Miranda pointed out.  
  
"Relax. You're just the bait this time!" ProtoMan tried to assure Miranda.  
  
"Oh, that makes me feel so much better!" Miranda retorted. "You'll never get MegaMan!"  
  
"Who says we're after MegaMan this time? We're going after that new partner of his, MegaGirl!" ProtoMan revealed, catching Miranda completely off- guard. "She'll come to save you, of course, since you happen to be the granddaughter of the guy who created her in the first place!"  
  
"Yeah, right! MegaGirl's too smart to fall for any of your traps!" Miranda remarked sarcastically.  
  
"Don't be so sure, Miranda. If MegaGirl's anything like my bro, she'll come to save you," ProtoMan revealed. He then turned his attention to GutsMan, CutMan, and DarkMan. "Let's take her back to Wily, then all we have to do is wait for MegaGirl to show up!"  
  
"Right, ProtoMan," DarkMan agreed as he, GutsMan, and CutMan headed towards the forest bordering the backyard, where the Skull Car was waiting for them, partially concealed by some brush and trees.  
  
Miranda looked back up at the house and saw Misty perched in the kitchen window that she left open as ProtoMan dragged her inside of the Skull Car...  
  
"Right this way, Miranda," ProtoMan remarked as he got out of the Skull Car, carrying Miranda in the electromagnetic net. From looking around the area, Miranda noticed that Wily's robots were taking her inside an abandoned warehouse with boarded up windows and a heavily corroded metal door.  
  
"Get the door, GutsMan," ProtoMan ordered the construction robot.  
  
"Sure thing, ProtoMan," GutsMan agreed as he stepped forward and effortlessly opened the rusty door. Inside the main storage area of the warehouse, Dr. Wily was waiting for them.  
  
"Excellent job, my robots," Dr. Wily admitted gleefully as ProtoMan brought Miranda inside the warehouse, followed by DarkMan, GutsMan and CutMan. "She'll be the perfect bait to get both MegaMan undt MegaGirl."  
  
"Forget it, you crazy kook! You'll never get your hands on MegaMan or MegaGirl!" Miranda proclaimed loudly as she struggled to get out of the electromagnetic net to no avail.  
  
"Oh, is that so? Well, we'll see, now won't we?" Dr. Wily pointed out. He then turned his attention to ProtoMan. "Lock her away, ProtoMan."  
  
"Sure thing, Doc," ProtoMan replied as he dragged Miranda into a smaller room, where there was a large empty metal cage. "In you go!" ProtoMan announced as he tossed Miranda into the cage and closed the door shut. To Miranda's surprise, as soon as she landed in the cage, the electromagnetic net immediately disintegrated. She stood up just as ProtoMan locked the door on her.  
  
"Let me out of here!" Miranda demanded loudly as she grabbed the steel bars of the cage.  
  
"I don't think so. Now keep quiet and don't try anything funny!" ProtoMan warned Miranda before he turned around and left.  
  
As soon as ProtoMan disappeared in the other room, a small smirk appeared on Miranda's face. "Now's my chance," she whispered to herself as she reached for her locket. Before she could grab the locket, Miranda briefly glanced up and gasped slightly when she spotted a Batonton spy bat perched in the corner of the room, focused directly on her.  
  
"Looks like Wily's keeping an eye on me. I guess I won't be getting out of here as soon as I thought," Miranda murmured thoughtfully to herself...  
  
"Don't worry, Jason. If I do see her, I'll tell her to call you immediately," Dr. Light replied before hanging up the telephone.  
  
"Who was that, Doc?" MegaMan asked curiously as he, Roll, and Rush entered the lab.  
  
"That was Jason. Apparently, Miranda left the house without leaving a note revealing her whereabouts," Dr. Light explained. "Have you seen her at all today, MegaMan?"  
  
"Not since yesterday, Dr. Light," MegaMan replied.  
  
"You don't think something bad happened to her, do you?" Roll asked curiously.  
  
"That's what Jason's afraid of. Miranda usually leaves him a message, letting him knowing where she'll be if she leaves the house when he's not home," Dr. Light explained. "Also, he discovered some suspicious footprints in the backyard." Just then, the doorbell rang.  
  
"Now, who could that be?" Dr. Light wondered aloud as Roll approached the door and opened it.  
  
"Misty? What is she doing here?" Roll asked as the blue mechanical bird flew into the lab.  
  
"Maybe she knows what happened to Miranda," MegaMan suggested as Misty landed in front of him and Rush. "What is it, Misty?"  
  
The robotic bird let out a soft chirp as her eyes glowed blue and projected several holographic images out in front of her.  
  
"Oh, no! Wily's bots got her!" Roll exclaimed when she and MegaMan saw the holographic images of Miranda, who was encased in a black electromagnetic net, ProtoMan, GutsMan, CutMan, and DarkMan.  
  
"Yeah, but what do they want with Miranda?" MegaMan asked as the images disappeared.  
  
As though to answer his question, Misty opened her beak as wide as she could.  
  
"You'll never get MegaMan!" Miranda's recorded voice proclaimed from Misty's beak.  
  
"Who says we're after MegaMan this time? We're going after that new partner of his, MegaGirl!" ProtoMan's recorded voice revealed.  
  
"Boy, are they gonna be in for a big surprise!" Roll remarked as Misty closed her beak.  
  
"This is really bad, Roll. What if Wily figures out that Miranda and MegaGirl are one and the same?" MegaMan asked worriedly. "We gotta figure out a way to get Miranda out of Wily's clutches. Misty, do you know where we can find her?"  
  
Misty chirped as she nodded her head in response.  
  
"She should be able to, MegaMan. Besides the holographic projector and voice recorder, I've also programmed Misty to track down the homing signal programmed into Miranda's cyber suit," Dr. Light explained.  
  
"Hey, that's it! I've got an idea on how to save Miranda without having her cover blown!" MegaMan exclaimed.  
  
"What's the plan, MegaMan? Can I help?" Roll asked curiously.  
  
"You sure can, Roll. I'll explain on the way, but I'll need to get something first. Let's go!" MegaMan announced as he ran into the back room, followed by Roll, Rush, and Misty...  
  
"What am I going to do?" Miranda asked herself worriedly as she sat on the floor of the cage, with the Batonton still watching her from the corner of the room.  
  
"Psst! Miranda!" a familiar voice whispered. Miranda looked around to see where the voice was coming from.  
  
"Up here, Miranda! Through the window!" the voice whispered again.  
  
Miranda looked up at a small window and smiled when she saw MegaMan peering through from outside. "MegaMan! How did you find me?"  
  
"I had a little help from Misty. Turns out Dr. Light programmed Misty to track you down through your locket," MegaMan whispered.  
  
"Good thing you're whispering, Mega. There's a Batonton in here watching my every move," Miranda whispered.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Miranda. I got an idea," MegaMan whispered as he opened the window, crawled through it, and landed on the floor, followed by Rush. He turned back to the window and spoke in a clear, rather loud voice, "I found Miranda, MegaGirl. She's down here."  
  
"Mega, what are you...?" Miranda started to ask in a low whisper, not wanting to draw the Batonton's attention.  
  
"Shh..." MegaMan warned Miranda with a sly wink.  
  
Miranda followed MegaMan's gaze to the window he crawled out of and watched as another figure crawled through the open window. She nearly gasped out loud when she saw that it was MegaGirl, followed by Misty.  
  
"Hold on, Miranda. We'll have you out in a sec," MegaGirl reassured Miranda, who had a stunned look on her face. Just then, the Batonton let out a slight squeak as he flew out of the room.  
  
"Good, the Batonton's gone. Coast is clear," MegaMan announced.  
  
MegaGirl silently nodded her head as she suddenly became enclosed in a white glow. When the glow faded away, Miranda gasped loudly when she saw Roll standing where MegaGirl once was.  
  
"No way! How did you do that, Roll?" Miranda asked curiously.  
  
"Just this mini-morphing device that BrainBot made for us," Roll revealed as she showed Miranda the small ball-shaped device she had concealed in her hand the entire time.  
  
"Wow! That's so cool!" Miranda admitted. "How does it work?"  
  
"There's no time to explain now, Miranda. Once Wily sees the footage from that Batonton, his bots will bust in here any minute now!" MegaMan interrupted as Roll approached the cage's door.  
  
"Getting you out will be a piece of cake, Miranda, thanks to my handy-dandy cake mixer!" Roll confessed as her utility cannon produced a cake mixer. Roll quickly shoved the rapidly spinning cake mixer through the lock in the cage door, drilling a large hole through it.  
  
"Nice job, Roll. We better get out of here before Wily sends out the welcome party!" MegaMan announced as Miranda pushed the now unlocked door open.  
  
"Good idea, MegaMan," Roll agreed as the four robots and Miranda ran towards the open window.  
  
"You first, Miranda," MegaMan suggested.  
  
"All right, Mega," Miranda agreed as she jumped on top of Misty, who had already converted into jet mode. As soon as Miranda and Misty were outside, Roll got through the window with Rush's help.  
  
Before MegaMan had a chance to reach the window, he heard a loud noise from behind him. He turned around and saw that GutsMan had punched the door open, ripping it off of its hinges.  
  
"Hey, it's MegaMan!" GutsMan shouted.  
  
"Hold him still for me! I'll slice and dice him into little silicon bits!" CutMan shouted from behind GutsMan.  
  
"Try and get me, CutMan!" MegaMan shouted as he fired a plasma blast directly at GutsMan.  
  
"Whoa!" GutsMan screamed as he fell backwards from the force of the plasma blast, landing on top of DarkMan, CutMan, and ProtoMan.  
  
"Get off, you robo ape!" ProtoMan complained loudly as he struggled to get out from underneath the large construction robot, along with CutMan and DarkMan.  
  
"Come on, Rush! Let's beat it!" MegaMan announced.  
  
"Yeah, yeah!" Rush barked in agreement as he converted into jet mode. MegaMan quickly jumped on top of Rush and they flew out of the open window just as GutsMan got off of the other robots.  
  
"They're getting away!" GutsMan complained.  
  
"Thanks for stating the obvious, GutsMan!" ProtoMan retorted under his breath. "Come on! If we hurry, we can stop them before they escape!"  
  
"Yeah, we'll cut them off at the pass!" CutMan admitted sinisterly as the four robots ran to the rusty door.  
  
Meanwhile, MegaMan was up in the sky with Rush, scanning the area below him for any signs of Roll, Miranda, and Misty. "There they are!" MegaMan announced when he spotted them weaving their way through the narrow alleys between the several warehouses in the area. Miranda looked up and saw MegaMan and Rush flying high overhead.  
  
"Look, Roll! MegaMan's up there!" Miranda announced, pointing up at the sky. Roll looked up in the direction Miranda was pointing and saw her brother high in the sky.  
  
"MegaMan! Down here!" Roll shouted as she waved her arms to get her brother's attention. Roll and Miranda took a few steps back to give MegaMan some room as he and Rush landed on the ground in front of them.  
  
"We better book it! Wily's bots will be on our titanium tails any second now!" MegaMan revealed as Rush converted back to his original mode.  
  
"That'll give me just enough time to transform," Miranda admitted as she touched the ruby on her locket. She soon became encased in a glowing red light as the red cyber suit quickly enveloped her body.  
  
"Good timing, MegaGirl, 'cause here they come!" Roll announced as she pointed at ProtoMan, DarkMan, GutsMan, and CutMan, who were heading right towards them.  
  
"It's MegaGirl!" GutsMan shouted.  
  
"Heard you bolt brains have been looking for me. Well, here I am," MegaGirl announced. "And I'll tell you one thing. Both MegaMan and I don't appreciate the fact that you bucket heads kidnapped my creator's granddaughter!"  
  
"I couldn't agree with you more, MegaGirl!" MegaMan admitted.  
  
"Uh-oh!" CutMan gasped.  
  
"Plasma power!" MegaMan and MegaGirl shouted simultaneously as they activated their plasma cannons and fired them at ProtoMan, GutsMan, CutMan, and DarkMan.  
  
"Take cover!" ProtoMan shouted as he, CutMan, GutsMan, and DarkMan quickly ducked behind the surrounding warehouse buildings, barely avoiding the dual plasma blasts from MegaMan and MegaGirl.  
  
"Aww, man! They split up!" Roll complained.  
  
"We'll have to do the same," MegaMan muttered thoughtfully. "Let's go!"  
  
As MegaMan ran straight ahead, Roll and Rush turned left, while MegaGirl and Misty turned right.  
  
"Now, where are those robo-creeps hiding?" MegaGirl asked herself as she cautiously walked down the paths in between the numerous warehouses in search of Dr. Wily's robots.  
  
"Hey, MegaGirl! Let's see you try and dodge my electromagnetic energy!" DarkMan shouted.  
  
MegaGirl quickly turned around and gasped when she saw DarkMan standing there, forming a ball of black electromagnetic energy with his hands. Once the ball of black energy was the size of a basketball, DarkMan quickly threw the ball of electromagnetic energy at MegaGirl.  
  
"I'm not falling for that one again, DarkMan," MegaGirl muttered under her breath as she and Misty jumped high in the air, barely avoiding DarkMan's attack. She kicked off of the wall and landed right behind DarkMan.  
  
"Gotcha!" DarkMan shouted as he quickly turned around and grabbed MegaGirl from behind. He soon slackened slightly his grip when he realized that MegaGirl was copying his weapon.  
  
"And I've got ya power, DarkMan!" MegaGirl announced as she quickly kicked DarkMan away from her and fired a blast of electromagnetic energy at him.  
  
"Ahh!" DarkMan screamed as he tried to outrun the blast of electromagnetic energy. Unfortunately, for DarkMan, the electromagnetic energy struck him in the back, causing him to hit the ground hard. Within a few moments, DarkMan started to short-circuit and eventually shut down.  
  
"That takes care of DarkMan," MegaGirl admitted as Misty landed back on the ground. "Come on, Misty. We better find MegaMan, Roll, and Rush." Misty chirped in agreement as she converted into jet mode. MegaGirl quickly jumped on top of Misty as they took off in the air...  
  
"Time to blow these robo-creeps away!" Roll shouted as she produced a fan from her utility cannon.  
  
"Whoa!" ProtoMan, GutsMan, and CutMan screamed as they fought their way through the powerful wind generated from Roll's fan.  
  
As Dr. Wily's robots slowly managed to get closer, MegaMan, Roll, and Rush slowly backed away. To their surprise, the three robots soon found their backs against a wall.  
  
"Sizzling circuits! We're trapped!" MegaMan exclaimed when he realized that they were trapped in a small alley.  
  
"Oh, no!" Rush howled.  
  
"We've got you right where we want you, little brother!" ProtoMan remarked as he, GutsMan, and CutMan surrounded MegaMan, Roll, and Rush.  
  
"What are we waiting for? Let's get 'em!" GutsMan shouted as he started to run forward.  
  
"I don't think so, bolt brains!" a familiar voice shouted, which caused GutsMan to stop in his tracks.  
  
ProtoMan, CutMan, and GutsMan looked up and gasped when they saw MegaGirl flying above their heads on Misty.  
  
"Look! It's MegaGirl!" CutMan shouted.  
  
"Gee, thanks for stating the obvious, CutMan!" ProtoMan retorted out loud.  
  
"Why don't you try these on for size?" MegaGirl shouted as she fired two large blasts of black electromagnetic energy at ProtoMan and CutMan. The first two blasts struck ProtoMan and CutMan so hard that they became pinned against the walls of the alley from the force of the attacks. The electromagnetic energy soon formed tight-fitting black shackles around ProtoMan and CutMan's arms, legs, waists, and necks.  
  
"Looks like MegaGirl got DarkMan's weapon. Very clever," ProtoMan admitted under his breath.  
  
"Now it's your turn, Gutsy!" MegaGirl added as she fired another blast of electromagnetic energy at the large construction robot. To her surprise, GutsMan quickly dodged the attack.  
  
"Ha, ha, ha! You missed me, MegaGirl!" GutsMan gloated with a sinister laugh.  
  
"But I won't! You're toast, GutsMan!" Roll shouted as she produced a toaster from her utility cannon and shot two fiery blasts from the toaster slots at GutsMan. To GutsMan's surprise, the fiery blasts went right through his chest, leaving a large hole in his chest cavity.  
  
"Huh? Ohh..." GutsMan moaned as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell down to the ground with a loud crash.  
  
"That takes care of them!" MegaGirl commented as she landed on the ground and jumped off of Misty, while Misty converted back into her original mode.  
  
"Yeah, but not for long," Roll confessed as she, MegaMan, and Rush joined MegaGirl and Misty.  
  
"We better get out of here," MegaMan suggested.  
  
"Good idea, Mega," MegaGirl agreed.  
  
As they ran past Wily's robots, MegaMan shouted, "We'll finish this next time, bro!"  
  
"I'll hold you to that, bro!" ProtoMan murmured under his breath as he watched MegaMan, MegaGirl, Roll, Rush, and Misty run down the narrow passage...  
  
"I don't think I can thank you guys enough for helping me back there, MegaMan and Roll," Miranda openly confessed. She was in Dr. Light's lab with MegaMan, Roll, Rush, and Misty.  
  
"Most of the credit should go to Misty. She was the one that showed us what happened to you and led us to you," MegaMan pointed out.  
  
"Thanks a lot, Misty," Miranda admitted as she knelt down and patted Misty on the head, who was standing next to her. "That was a pretty clever idea, disguising Roll as MegaGirl so Dr. Wily wouldn't figure out my secret."  
  
"It would have been bad if Wily found out that you and MegaGirl were one and the same, but it would have even worse if he got his hands on your cyber suit," MegaMan muttered thoughtfully.  
  
"What do you mean, Mega?" Roll asked curiously.  
  
"You've seen how powerful Miranda is with that cyber suit on, Roll. If Dr. Wily ever found out that such a powerful cyber suit exists, he could definitely fulfill his twisted plan of turning humans into robots!" MegaMan explained  
  
"I see what you mean, MegaMan. With a bunch of cyber suits like mine, Wily could make an army of robots out of people through mind control, like what he did at Fun World a year ago," Miranda agreed. "Humans wearing cyber suits would be the closest Wily would ever get to turning all humans into robots, since they would have the strength and agility of real robots. Even Wily himself thinks I'm a robot when I'm wearing the cyber suit!"  
  
"Well, at least your secret's safe, Miranda," Roll pointed out.  
  
"Yeah...for now," Miranda muttered out loud.  
  
"Hey, where did Misty go?" MegaMan asked curiously when he noticed that the robotic bird was no longer by Miranda's side.  
  
"Misty, where are you?" Miranda shouted as she, MegaMan, and Roll looked around the laboratory looking for Misty.  
  
"Look! There she is!" Roll announced as she pointed at a nearby table. MegaMan and Miranda turned around and chuckled a bit when they saw Misty perched on the table, sticking her head into an open box of battery biscuits that was lying on its side. Rush growled angrily as he quickly ran over to the table.  
  
"Ruff-ruff! Get away!" Rush barked loudly.  
  
A few moments later, Misty slowly pulled her head out of the box of battery biscuits. Rush growled angrily when he saw the very last battery biscuit in Misty's beak.  
  
"Rush, no!" MegaMan shouted when the robo dog jumped on top of the table. Startled by Rush's abrupt actions, Misty quickly dropped the biscuit and took off in the air. Rush chuckled happily to himself as he took the battery biscuit in his paws.  
  
"Rush, where are your manners?" Roll scolded the robotic dog.  
  
Rush whimpered a little bit in response as Misty landed back on the table. The robotic dog reluctantly held his paw out to Misty, with the battery biscuit lying in his open paw. To everyone's surprise, Misty walked right past Rush and stuck her head back into the box of battery biscuits.  
  
"Why is she doing that? That was the last battery biscuit," Roll asked curiously.  
  
"Oh, I get it now. Misty wasn't interested in the biscuit. She wanted the crumbs at the bottom of the box," Miranda realized. "It actually makes sense. That biscuit's too big for her to eat, anyway."  
  
"Phew!" Rush gasped loudly out of relief as he popped the last battery biscuit in his mouth and ate it. When he finished eating the battery biscuit, Rush noticed that Misty was struggling with the empty box.  
  
With a heavy sigh, Rush pulled the box off of Misty's head with his paws, turned it upside-down, and shook it, allowing the crumbs to fall onto the table. Misty chirped happily as she pecked at the crumbs on the table.  
  
"See, Rush? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Roll asked.  
  
"No, no, no!" Rush barked as he shook his head in response. To everyone's surprise, Misty hopped off of the table and perched herself on top of Rush's head.  
  
"Looks like Rush made a new friend," MegaMan commented.  
  
"Then again, maybe not!" Miranda remarked as she pointed at Rush. MegaMan, Miranda, and Roll laughed out loud as Rush shook his head back and forth in an attempt to get Misty off of him...TO BE CONTINUED 


End file.
